People Moves: Zedra, Australia’s AFA, Old Mutual Wealth, RWC

By: International Investment Staff | 07 Mar 2017

Kewin to succeed Fox at Australia’s AFA

Brad Fox, the chief executive of Australia’s Association of Financial Advisers, is stepping down from the post, to be succeeded by Philip Kewin, a former financial adviser and ex-Zurich executive, the AFA said.

Kewin takes up his new role on 20 March.

Fox, pictured above, held the role of AFA CEO for the past four years, and will continue to serve the AFA as a consultant in such key areas as the development of professional standards and codes, a process that has been ongoing.

During his time at the head of the AFA, the Australian advisory industry has undergone a period of extreme change, which included the introduction of the Future of Financial Advice reforms in 2011. Last month, Australia’s lawmakers approved a new package of legislation affecting Australia’s financial advisory industry known as the Corporations Amendment (Professional Standards of Financial Advisers Bill 2016), which aims to boost the quality of financial advice on offer in the country by setting new minimum qualifications for advisers, and establishing a new Code of Ethics that advisers would be obliged to comply with from 1 January 2020.

At the time, AFA said that the new legislation would pave the way towards greater recognition of financial advice as a profession, while also improving consumer perception “and ultimately [the] take up” of financial advice.

Zedra adds to its London team

Zedra, the corporate, trust and fund services provider that was created last year from the amalgamation of several corporate services businesses, has named a private equity specialist to a key new role in its Funds & Corporate operations in London.

Bridget Barker (pictured left) joins Zedra as executive director of Funds & Corporate, in London, from Macfarlanes, the City law firm, where she had been for almost 36 years. She was recently included in the 2017 edition of Chambers Legal Directory a one of just three so-called “Senior Statesmen” for private equity funds.

At Zedra, she’ll be responsible for overseeing Zedra’s corporate and fund services operations in London, and helping to provide “further opportunity for new market growth”, Zedra said in a statement.

Zedra was founded last year after Barclays completed the sale of a majority share of its trust business to a group of investors headed up by individuals from the Nielsen and Sarikhani families, who have experience in building and operating financial services businesses in the trust, financial planning, tax and advisory sectors.

The purchase price of the deal wasn’t disclosed, but Barclays retained a 19.9% stake in the business, renamed Zedra, for a minimum of three years, according to a company statement at the time.

Stephen Gazard to join Intrinsic as group managing director

Intrinsic, part of Old Mutual Wealth, has announced that Stephen Gazard will join the business later this year as group managing director. Gazard will work alongside CEO, Andy Thompson, on the distribution strategy for the group as well as leading the mortgage division of the network.

Joining from Sesame Bankhall Group where he has been managing director for four years, Gazard will bring a “wealth of industry experience to the Intrinsic executive”, the company said in a statement announcing the hire.

Intrinsic announced in 2016 that it would create three new business channels, each with its own managing director. Nigel Speirs will continue to lead Old Mutual Wealth Private Client Advisers, with Stephen Fryett having oversight of the Wealth Network for investment and pension advisers. The position of group managing director is newly-created, the company said.

Priya Dutta joins Mark Davies & Associates, London

Mark Davies & Associates, a London firm specialising in advising international clients, particularly UK non-domiciles, has named Priya Dutta senior tax manager, a new role.

Dutta is described by the company as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser who also happens to have an honours degree in law, and who has had “extensive experience in advising internationally-mobile high-net-worth individuals and their trusts on their UK tax position”. She has worked for “Big Four” and “Top Six” firms as well as smaller firms, Mark Davies said.

Board changes announced at Guernsey’s rebranded Int’l Stock Exchange Group

Stephen Lansdown is to step down from the board of the Guernsey-based stock exchange formerly known as the Channel Islands Securities Exchange, “with effect from the annual general meeting in June”, in order to focus on his other business interests, the exchange said.

Lansdown is a co-founder and former chairman of the Bristol-based financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown, and is also active in a number of Bristol-based sporting organisations, such as the Bristol City Football Club, Bristol Flyers and Bristol Rugby.

The International Stock Exchange Group Limited, (TISEG), as the CISE now calls itself, said Isle of Man-based Anderson Whamond – a banking and financial services veteran who is currently a non-executive director of Charlemagne Capital (IOM), and a director of a number of other listed and non-listed investment companies – had joined the board.

The news of the board changes came last week after an extraordinary general meeting of the exchange, at which CISE shareholders formally approved the name change, which was aimed at conveying the securities exchange’s increasingly international scope. Officially the name change was effective yesterday, and on Thursday, the entity’s new office in the Isle of Man is scheduled to formally open.

Lansdown had first become involved with what was then called the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) as a non-executive director in May of 2013. Following a major restructuring of the business towards the end of that year, he became a founding non-executive director and deputy chairman of what at that point became known as the CISE.

In a statement, Jon Moulton, chairman of the exchange, said Lansdown had been “instrumental in the successful restructure of the exchange business” and that he wanted to pay tribute in particular to “his significant assistance as deputy chairman in guiding the CISE through its formative years and into a new era.

“We will miss him.”

RWC Partners adds to senior management

RWC Partners has hired Arthur Grigoryants for a newly created role of head of investment strategy. In this new role Grigoryants will focus on a wide range of investment, strategic and management issues.

Grigoryants has 22 years of experience in finance including central banking, investment consulting and asset management. Prior to joining RWC Partners Arthur spent 12 years with Stonehage Fleming as a head of investments and most recently as a joint CIO. He previously spent three years at Mercer as a consultant.

RWC’s CEO Dan Mannix said: “We have known Arthur for many years and his background as a consultant and an investment manager make him well placed to understand the challenges our clients are facing. The environment is rapidly changing and we think it critically important that we invest in our infrastructure to ensure we retain our focus on our clients and supporting their needs.”

Helen Burggraf is Chief Correspondent for International Investment. She is a US-trained journalist who has worked in Rome, New York City and London, covering among other things the fashion and retailing industries, the global drinking water and water-treatment sector, private equity, and most recently, the international cross-border financial services/advice industry.